Back at the city, everything was already over. A new power was officially in control. This time it was a single person which was responsible for everyone. That person was none other than Commander Norman.

Big changes were implemented right away. People were now basically divided into two parts. Those with a power level of above three hundred, and the rest. Every means available were used to implement new things.

Right from the start, a big number of people were forcefully taken to special prepared or improvised workplaces. Almost anyone who dared to have any objections was killed on the spot. Every single person with a decent power level was either on Norman’s side, either killed or brainwashed into working. There were, of course, people that managed to escape into the mountains.

As things went, resistance was now futile. With each passing minute, more people were killed or sent towards different kinds of labor. In short, the city slowly turned into a work camp; where people had no rights to complain whatsoever. They had to be now content with just necessities while following orders.

After a few days.

A group of people were now gathered together inside a big hall. They were furiously hammering monster cores, turning them to smaller and smaller pieces. Their jobs were to smash those hard gems into fine powder. A very rough and long process.

Among these people were a few familiar faces. Lora, her mother Amelia, and Lora’s bigger sister Emma. Amelia’s once luxurious appearance was now nowhere to be seen. Her face was full of sweat while she was furiously hammering at a monster core.

‘Andrew, you poor husband, why did you have to die?’ Tears fell down incessantly from her eyes. Her face looked rather twisted, suggesting more anger than sorrow. Her husband’s death was unfair, a nameless guard using him as an example to scare other people; the reason being something insignificant.

‘You fucking useless husband! Why did I have to marry someone so useless?!!’ the hammer in her hand smashed the red monster core with ever-growing hate.

In just a few measly days, her extravagant lifestyle plummeted into the abyss. Working like a slave for more than sixteen hours a day, coupled with very poor conditions, was not easy. Especially for people which were used to an ostentatious lifestyle.

Right at this exact moment, someone threw his hammer to the ground and started to run, with the intention of escaping. The poor individual managed to run for a few meters before his headless corpse fell to the ground. A very gruesome scene to behold.

“If you want better conditions, then work harder. Maybe in a few years you will manage to obtain a little more food, and a better room.” After saying those words, the guard started to laugh like an idiot.

“Or maybe you can come under my wing, I’ll be sure to take ‘proper’ care of you.” Great emphasis was put on the word ‘proper’. Licking his lips, the guard looked at Amelia and her two daughters.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Seeing the guard’s lustful gaze, Amelia wanted to use that hammer and bash his head in. Unfortunately, doing such a thing was impossible with her inferior power. She already thought of using her beautiful appearance to get out of such a situation; after all, her former marriage was not out of love.

Despite that, she had a bottom line, and a few strict rules in doing so. Just looking at that guard made her want to vomit.

‘If that pig is the only option, might as well spend my entire life working like a fucking slave,’ thought Amelia. Glancing at her daughters, she felt a huge amount of pain in her heart.

While the guard had a lustful gaze, he did not dare to force himself on them. The reason for that were Norman’s rules. Children, elderly people, pregnant women and a few other categories were also under special rules. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but decent nonetheless. The new city ruler had a bottom line as well.

A bottom line he enforced with terror. If any person went past that, he would personally investigate and torture the individual in front of everyone else. Such a case happened in the first day.

Norman skinned the said individual very slowly, before cutting him up to a hundred pieces with his sword. His old men were already aware of his personality, but the new recruits had to learn the hard way. This action had a great effect. Furthermore, a few of his selected men could be seen patrolling the city, eyes wide open for any special rules being ignored. Their job was solely to keep under order the other guards and powerful people that were under Norman, and absolutely nothing else. Their power was top-notch, and their equipment of the best quality.

Amelia suddenly thought about Gorn, her face turning somewhat brighter. ‘He will definitely come to save Lora, right? I must be sure not to lose such a chance and…’

Lora’s face was rather blank. She was very saddened by her father’s death, and her inability to do anything. Her future also looked bleak. ‘I’m young, beautiful and talented. My extraordinary life was just beginning. It’s not possible for me to be stuck in such a situation, right?’

With each passing moment being still there, Lora was closer and closer towards a mental breakdown. Her sister had the same thoughts, only worse.

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Back into the wilderness, Ella was busy teaching her sisters how to climb, and get over their fear of heights, while also having fun in the process. Elisa joined them a few times. As for Rebeca, she was sitting some distance away. She was in quite a sorry state.

‘Should I run?’ thought Rebeca. ‘But what if encounter any monsters? Wouldn’t that be the same as forfeiting my life?’ She went through various possible options, trying to find a suitable response for everything that happened.

Gorn’s existence and his special potion turned to a curse that was haunting her. ‘Even if I escape, wouldn’t Gorn come after me to make sure I don’t tell anyone about his secret?’

The worries and the stress started to make her think only of the worst possible scenarios. In the end, she found a solution. Coming in front of the other girls, Rebeca got on her knees and shouted: “I was wrong, please forgive me! I will never do it again!”

This was the only safe solution she could think of. Doing such a thing was not easy. Seeing the other person’s fear and submission brought a very bizarre feeling inside Elisa’s heart.

She liked it.

“Do you understand that I’m not your fucking buddy, but your boss?”

Rebeca trembled slightly, then answered without daring to delay: “Yes, m’am!”

“Good. Now fuck off from my face, and stay silent until you receive new orders.”

“Yes m’am!” Rebeca did not dare to act frivolous anymore. Getting up, she went some distance away before resting. While doing so, she caught a glimpse of the other person’s expression. Elisa’s face contorted into a weird grin; she took great pleasure in what just happened.

Rebeca shuddered while not daring to look anymore: ‘Crazy! These bitches are fucking crazy!’